CleanTech News

New SUPERGEN Hub to set UK's energy storage course

(Nanowerk News) A new, £4 million, collaboration between academics and industry that will set the direction and development of research and technologies in Energy Storage, was unveiled today by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), on behalf of the Research Councils UK Energy Programme.

The SUPERGEN Energy Storage Hub will draw experts together from seven universities and fourteen industrial and governmental partners. They will address the technical and scientific challenges facing the wide variety of energy storage techniques.

Led by Professor Peter Bruce FRS based at the University of Oxford, the Hub will develop a shared vision for energy storage in the UK by developing the first integrated national roadmap for energy storage by engaging with the wider community.

Welcoming the funding Professor Bruce said: “Energy storage is more important today than at any time in human history. It has a vital role to play in storing electricity from renewable sources and is key to the electrification of transport. The SUPERGEN Hub will be working with industry, government and the education system to improve the performance of electrochemical, mechanical and thermal devices, develop and tested new materials and optimize thermodynamic processes. All against a background of robust integrated systems.”

The Hub will work with its industrial partners to accelerate the pull through of research to scale up, prototyping and commercialisation.

Philip Nelson EPSRC’s CEO said: “Developing efficient energy storage technologies and infrastructure is crucial to decarbonising and strengthening our energy system and security. Working with industry, this new SUPERGEN Hub will move the UK closer to where it needs to be for a safer, more sustainable future.”